Clinics in Somalia treating severely malnourished children are facing serious shortages of lifesaving therapeutic food supplies, with disruptions reportedly linked to shipping delays caused by the Iran war.
The shortages are forcing hospitals and nutrition centres to ration supplies and turn away some patients in drought-hit regions.
Mothers wait with children
In Daynile district, displaced women were seen carrying their children while waiting for medication and nutritional support at Daynile Hospital.
Many families in the area have already been uprooted by drought, conflict and food insecurity.
Children most at risk
Health workers warn that children suffering severe acute malnutrition need urgent and consistent access to therapeutic food to survive and recover.
Any interruption in treatment can quickly become life-threatening.
Shipping crisis adds pressure
Aid agencies say delays in maritime trade routes and rising transport costs linked to regional conflict are affecting humanitarian deliveries.
Somalia depends heavily on imported aid supplies and vulnerable logistics networks.
Drought and displacement continue
Large parts of Somalia remain affected by recurring drought, failed rains and displacement, leaving millions reliant on aid.
Internally displaced families in urban camps often face the harshest conditions.
Humanitarian warning
Relief groups have repeatedly warned that global conflicts can trigger hidden humanitarian crises far beyond battle zones by disrupting food, fuel and medicine supplies.
For Somalia’s children, those consequences are now immediate.